CHENNAI: Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has decided to withdraw the election petition he filed challenging the victory of Navas Kani, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) Member of Parliament from the Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency, after recently joining the DMK.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, Navas Kani, who contested from Ramanathapuram as a candidate of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), defeated O Panneerselvam, who had contested as an independent candidate, by a margin of 1,66,782 votes.
Challenging the victory, Panneerselvam had filed an election petition before the Madras High Court. In his petition, he alleged that Navas Kani suppressed material facts in his nomination papers and engaged in corrupt practices during the election.
The case has been heard by Justice CV Karthikeyan. Earlier, a petition filed by Navas Kani seeking dismissal of the election petition was rejected. Subsequently, Panneerselvam appeared before the court in person on two occasions and recorded his evidence.
The matter came up for hearing again before Justice CV Karthikeyan on Tuesday. In the meantime, Panneerselvam, who has since joined the DMK, filed a petition seeking permission to withdraw the election petition.
When the matter was taken up, the judge directed the petitioner to file an amendment petition impleading the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a respondent in the withdrawal application.